Use the words AND, OR, and NOT to combine your search terms for precise searching. These are called Boolean operators and each one has a different purpose.
Use AND to combine your search terms. Each search result with include all of the terms. This can help narrow your results.
Use OR to find results that contain at least one of your search terms. This can help you broaden your results, and can be good to use if the subject you're searching for is referred to in different ways.
Use NOT to exclude terms from your results. This can help you narrow your topic by removing a related term that you are not interested in finding sources about.
Use “quotation marks” around phrases in your search so the database looks for the entire phrase instead of each individual word. This can be especially helpful if the phrase you’re looking for is made up of common words.
For example, you may want to search for specific locations in Worcester. Searching just Green Hill Park may bring back unrelated results that have the word green, the word hill, or the word park, but not all together. Instead, put it in quotation marks: "Green Hill Park." This will prompt the database to search for that exact phrase.
Use the asterisk symbol (*) to replace characters in a word. The database will search for variations of the word based on the root part of the word (what you include before the asterisk).
Searching immigr* will search for immigrate, immigrant, and immigration.
Books in the library are organized by call number. Call numbers note the subject of a book, so books on similar subjects will be located today. If you find one book on the shelves, spend some time browsing the books around it, because they will be about a similar topic.
Books in Dinand about the history of Worcester will typically have call numbers starting with F72. These are located in the mezzanine level stacks. Some may also be in the oversize section - look for a plus sign (+) in the call number.
Use the Library Catalog to search for books. Books in the catalog are assigned subject terms, which are specific terms that describe what a book is about. Some useful subject terms for Worcester history are:
The below books about Worcester history are located in Dinand Library. You can ask a librarian or someone at the Circulation Desk for help finding them. Remember that books are grouped by subject on the shelves, so if you find one book you can look around it on the shelf for similar books.
A History of Worcester 1674-1848
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From Raccoon Plain to Pakachoag Hill
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The heart of the Commonwealth : society and political culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1713-1861
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Worcester: 1880-1920
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Armenians of Worcester
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The Polish Community of Worcester
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Swedes of Greater Worcester
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Greeks in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1890-1910
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Arab-American Faces and Voices: the origins of an immigrant community
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Ga till Amerika
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Emigration from Syria and the Syrian-Lebanese community of Worcester, MA
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Inventing Irish America
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The Heart of the Commonwealth: society and political culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1713-1861
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Memories of Belonging: Descendants of Italian Migrants to the United States, 1884-Present
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First Fruits of Freedom: the migration of former slaves and their search for equality in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1862-1900
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The Telegram & Gazette (also known as the Telegram or the T&G) was founded in 1866 as Worcester's daily newspaper. Holy Cross provides access to the T&G through library databases. These databases let you browse for issues by date or search for specific keywords. Pay attention to the dates listed below the database name to make sure you are searching in the historical or current issues, depending on your research need.
Date(s):1866-1988
Articles from the Worcester Evening Gazette and the Worcester Telegram, including all pictures and advertisements.
Date(s):1989-present
Articles from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette; all pictures and advertisements are included 2018-present.
Note: When you search either Worcester Telegram & Gazette database, it automatically sorts results by newest. For historical research, you should change the results to sort by Best Match. Find this setting on the left side of the results page.
The Museum of Worcester (formerly the Worcester Historical Museum) includes a library, archives, and collection of artifacts related to Worcester History. While they have many digital collections and photos available online, even more resources are available by either visiting the museum or making an appointment to visit the library and archives. See their website to learn more about visiting. Below are links to some digital resources and collections that may be relevant in your research.
Archives & Distinctive Collections is located on the third floor of Dinand Library. The Archives collect, preserve, and provide access to a wide variety of materials related to the College's history and the history of Worcester. Anyone can visit the Archives during their open hours or by scheduling an appointment to explore the resources available.
The links below lead to finding aids, which are online documents that provide an overview of the collection and notes about where items can be found. The actual materials are not digitized.
To access the materials, you will need to visit the Archives in person.
Click here to request an Archives appointment.
Click here to e-mail the Archives with questions about the collections.
The U.S. Census is a Constitutionally mandated data collection project that counts every resident in the United States. The full Census takes place every ten years. It was most recently conducted in 2020. In addition to counting how many people are in the country, the Census also collects information about demographics, housing, income, employment, and more.
Note: Data from the 2020 Census is still being processed and may not be available at a city level yet.
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a data collection tool used by the U.S. Census to collect data about a smaller percentage of the population to make predictions about the full population. This survey is collected every year. It collects social, economic, housing, and demographic information covering over 40 topics to provide insight into our changing communities.
The American Community Survey uses data sampling. Instead of sending the survey to every single household, like with the full Census, the Census Bureau randomly selects households to participate in the survey (approximately 3.5 million households).
Data from the ACS is available in 1 year or 5 year estimates. The 5 year estimates include aggregate data from 5 consecutive years of the survey, which provides more reliable estimates of trends and changes in the data.
Social Explorer is a database that provides visualization, reporting and downloads of U.S. Census and American Community Survey data. You can explore data by specific locations or categories and create downloadable charts.
For help using Social Explorer, schedule a personal research session with a librarian.
In your appointment request, make sure to say you want to look at Census data.
Visualization, reporting and downloads of U.S. Census Data.
Below are some pre-generated data tables using ACS data for Worcester.
